Ano Natsu de Matteru - Episode 5

The summer break is here at last, and that means time for the gang to begin filming for their epic movie project.

With Remon directing proceedings, things were always likely to get interesting, but I doubt anyone present quite envisaged her plan for the movie - ignoring the fact that she's writing the script on a day by day basis and letting the "actors" improvise all of their lines, her core concept sees Ichika take on a role as an alien who has visited Earth for a destined meeting with a boy.  I believe the word "meta" springs to mind - for the viewer at least, perhaps "blind panic" would be more appropriate for Ichika.  As filming goes on, Remon's plotting seems to be even more devious, as she throws Tetsurou into the ring as the lead male seemingly in the knowledge that he's going to do something sufficiently stupid within the film's framework to allow Kaito to take his place.

Come the next day, rain stops any progress being made with filming, which instead leads to Kanna paying Kaito's house a visit and staying for lunch - an impulsive visit which she ultimately regrets, wracking herself with guilt over asking Ichika how long she expects to stay in the area.  On her way home, a meeting with Tetsurou in the rain leads to her staunchly refusing to even consider the notion of confessing her feelings to Kaito - then again, it appears that she won't have to as this decision is taken out of her hands completely.

After its awful start, Ano Natsu de Matteru seems to be getting better and better not just by the episode, but by the scene.  This week's instalment was an absolutely wonderful study of its characters and the complex relationships between them - every line, whether delivered under the pretence of "acting" or in normal conversation, was leapt upon by another in a search for hidden (and usually) absent meaning, while every characters motives are always clear even if they aren't necessarily sensible.  Ultimately, this leaves us with a set of people who feel incredibly human (and yes, I am including the alien in the group) - this is how you'd expect the dynamic of a young mixed gender group to be, and it's depicted beautifully, while also ensuring that we're always left with a tantalising cliff hanger every single week.  I didn't think I'd ever be saying this after its showing in episode one, but I'm seriously falling in love with this series.